Three takeaways from St. John’s win overe Butler

This season’s St. John’s team has a will to win that somehow continues to defy the odds.

The Red Storm on Saturday posted a 70-62 Big East victory in front of a sellout crowd at Carnesecca Arena that included WNBA star Caitlin Clark and they did it despite shooting 1-for-21 on three-point attempts and 37% overall for the game.

St. John’s (12-3, 3-1) last won three of its first four conference games in 2010-11, That year Dwight Hardy, Justin Brownlee and D.J. Kennedy took the Red Storm to a No. 6 seeding in the NCAA Tournament in Steve Lavin’s first season as head coach.

Despite the three-point shooting, there were some good signs in the play of Kadary Richmond whose strong play late in the game helped St. John’s pull out the win.

Here are three takeaways from the victory over Butler:

1. The Red Storm’s next game is their biggest of the season to date: St. John’s will be on the road at Xavier for a 6:30 p.m. Tuesday night Big East game. It’s the opportunity for the Red Storm to pick up a much-needed first Quad I win, as measured by the NET rankings the NCAA Tournament selection committee uses. And if they follow it by beating Villanova next Saturday at the Garden, St. John’s is likely to come out on the other side nationally-ranked.

The Musketeers were the No. 3 pick of Big East coaches in a preseason poll and are at full strength with big man Zach Freemantle back from the knee injury that had sidelined him.

The Storm is 0-3 in Quad I games so far and while the metrics are constantly moving, it’s difficult to say how many of those are out there in the Big East.

2. Simeon Wilcher is going to pay a price for his late-game antics: The outcome of St. John’s win over Butler was clear and all Wilcher needed to do was run out the clock in the last minute. Instead, he went for a highlight-reel windmill dunk and missed.

Pitino was none too pleased, opening his postgame news conference remarks by saying “First I’d like to apologize to Thad Matta and the coaching staff and the Butler program. . . . I didn’t see what happened at the end but that’s humiliating and embarrassing to me, St. John’s, and everyone affiliated with us. I’m embarrassed with it. . . . I wasn’t pleased tonight with the end of the game at all.”

Thus far this season, there have been penalties for players who exhibited selfish behavior. RJ Luis Jr. paid one for kicking a ball into the stands after fouling out. Deivon Smith paid one for his conduct in the teams’ loss to Georgia in the Bahamas. Wilcher seems certain to be the next guy in the doghouse.

“I don’t understand it,” Pitino said. “If he would’ve made it and it went in, he would’ve been nationally ridiculed. So why would someone want to be nationally ridiculed? It lacks common sense to me.”

3. If you somehow take your eyes off the horrid shooting, the defense is improving: St. John’s may have shot poorly, but got back from a deficit against Butler by effectively using its press to generate more possessions and chances to score. The Storm took 12 more shots than the Bulldogs.

No one is saying that the status quo with shooting is fine (which will surely bite them if it doesn’t improve). But historically, Pitino’s best teams have defended opponents to the teeth.

A great defense may prove the fulcrum to make this a better offensive team.